Positive stories from the field that transformed the lives of fire and rescue personnel. Provides insight into the role of the career and volunteer fire and rescue person. Somewhat repetitive in its themes and persons interviewed. Easy read that can be finished in a couple of days.

I am a volunteer firefighter, and my boyfriend became a career firefighter 6 months ago. I gave him this book for his academy graduation. I read it before I wrapped it, and I loved it. He is enjoying it now that he is on shift!

This book was great, I couldn't put it down. I cried and Laugh so hard that my stomach hurt. "Heart Behind The Hero" takes you threw the real life sceens that Fire Fighters and Paramedic's must face everyday. It give's you an Idea of what its like to put your life on the life every day to help others.

Rat City, with a Seattle setting, is a marvelous read. We rarely read a mystery although we've been big fans of Morse, the British detective of TV. We read Rat City because a fellow poet wrote it. Holy Socrates! What suspense, dialogue and movement. On page one Jake Rossiter takes out (kills) a guy who came into his office to plug him. He didn't even know why the guy was coming after him. "You won't make it," I told him. "You're checking out. Who are you, and why did you try to kill me?" He focused on my ceiling fan and whispered, "Gloria." It was the last thing he ever said. Jake Rossiter undertakes a search to find out why a well-known gangster wanted his head, but he is led into many blind alleys before he comes up with the answers. The story, somewhat reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade series, captures the dialogue and mood of the time of Seattle's corrupt underbelly. You love Rossiter's girl Friday, Miss Jenkins. With this first novel Curt Colbert, a Vietnam veteran, has created a many-faceted character that warrants many more stories. Colbert's writing style and voice keep you turning the pages of this well-written book, which is a real page-turner. (Barb read the book in two days. Couldn't put it down.) We recommend Rat City as a must-read book, even if, like us, you don't usually read mysteries.

Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, and Travis McGee all three rolled up into one will almost equal one Jake Rossiter. Curt Colbert chose a setting in Seattle when Seattle was wide open and wild after WW2 and he made it work. Curt Colbert's sense of humor and irony are clearly on display through the actions of Jake Rossiter and his conscious - Miss Jenkins. Miss Jenkins can more than handle her own with her boss without him even knowing it. Together they make a team to be reckoned with. Curt Colbert keeps you on the edge of your seat with his very first page and you will not want to take the time to put this excellent novel down. There is a reason why he was a Shamus Award nominee for "Rat City". Read his work and find out for yourself.

Rat City author. Curt Colbert, must have been a voracious reader of late 40's and 50's pulp detective fiction. The hard-boiled slightly tawdry Spillane style of book is given an expert make-over-- improved too.

Set in Seattle circa late 1940's, Rat City is part Spillane,
and part transplanted Chandler (yeah, at times Colbert writes that good). This isn't yet another attempted tribute to hard boiled pulps of yester-year however, it's got a unique setting, interesting characters, a leave you breathless pacing and an all out make no appology style. Private dick Jake Rossiter is part Hammer, part Marlow with a bit of Jim Rockford thrown in. The parts gel together well and create an original character you'll have some empathy and respect for.

There's also some excellent well researched historical detail in Rat City, but don't worry, it doesn't slow things down a bit. Oh and you can forget about this one being politically correct or indulging in a big helping of revisionism--not going to happen. What does happen is that Curt Colbert creates some dimension to his female and minority characters which makes the novel feel fresh and vibrantly alive. Rossiter's gal Friday Miss Jenkins is full of surprises as well. Colbert's not going to soft soap how things could have been back in the late 40's, but he can give his characters the kind of dimension in one novel, it took some pulp detective fiction authors many books to partially accomplish.

If you're looking for the kind of tough and tawdry pulpy detective novel no one writes anymore..well this one's for you.
You'll be hooked within 5 pages. Some of the tough as a three day growth of stubble rat-a-tat tough guy lines are memorable and few fall flat.

I wouldn't have thought it possible to write a novel like this without having the whole thing crash and burn avoiding a jay-walking copy-cat at the intersection of Cliche Avenue and Self Parody Boulevard.

I enjoy being pleasantly surprised. This is a splendid genre book and I'm grateful that Curt Colbert created it. I look forward to the next adventures of Jake Rossiter and Miss Jenkins.
I hope there are several more to come.

Oh yeah I should mention that this isn't a book to start right before your bed-time... you'll find yourself staying up much too late with the thing as it's truly difficult to put it down once you start reading it.

-- Writer, Poet, Critic, Christopher J. Jarmick is the author of the critically acclaimed mystery suspense thriller, The Glass Cocoon (with Serena F. Holder).

In many ways this is a great book. The subject is one that is known to induce headaches, and the author covers it with truly admirable clarity. It's worth buying the book for the chapter on cache consistency alone; like many others, I had to spend years piecing the same information together from varied sources, and it would be hard to overstate the value of having it all in one place.

So why only three stars? The problem is that the book is incomplete. Cache systems and virtual-memory systems interact in myriad ways, but you wouldn't know that from reading this book. Similarly, storage and networking subsystems are often the bloodiest battlegrounds with respect to multiprocessor synchronization, and yet special considerations in those areas are not covered. Many old architectures (e.g. Apollo, ELXSI) are mentioned, and yet NUMA never even gets a nod. I know that covering all of these topics in any kind of depth would be impossible in a single book of any reasonable length, but their *total* omission is something I consider unacceptable.

This is a book I would recommend without hesitation to any number of people. Unfortunately, that recommendation would always have to be accompanied by recommendations for other books that pick up where this one inexplicably leaves off.

I recently started working on the Linux kernel and found myself
perplexed by the multiprocessor code I found. After asking
around, a number of the more experienced Linux kernel developers
recommended this book. It's excellent! It taught me everything
I needed to know to get my work done. Plus there's the added
bonus that this book thoroughly covers cache architecture and its
interaction with the operating system. I highly recommend this
book to anyone working on the Linux kernel. It has far more depth and detail on multiprocessing and cache management than any
of the Linux books I've seen. And it's the only book I've ever
seen that so thoroughly explains the hardware involved in caches
and multiprocessors and their effects on the operating system in
a way that's easy to understand.

I work on MP SVR4 kernels and this book is where I got most of my basics on MP from. I didn't understand the contents all at once - especially the initial intro to memory models in chapter 8, but after reading the SPARC specs (V8 & V9) and chapter 13, I can see how all this is relevant.

If you are porting a unix or any OS for that matter to todays architectures, this book should help clear up what issues you would encounter and how best to solve them. For example the memory models and consistency guarantees of the source architecture and how they compare to the destination.

And ofcourse its a great aid to understanding any contemporary OS' kernel code.

veliath

This series is great. This book is not. If you read this book, when compared to the other Amber novels, you will understand why this book is a disappointment.

First, this book has two stories within it. I could be wrong, but it seems like the stories found here were parts of a magazine series put together to form one book. The first story, outside of some of the same characters, has little to do with the second story found here. As such, I will treat each story seperately and judge them accordingly.

If you can, skip the first story. It was horrible. It lacked every good quality which made the first book such a classic. In the first book Corwin, with no memory and recovering from an assassination attempt, still manages to gather forces together which eventually allow him to challenge his brother Eric for the thrown of Amber. When he loses, his eyes are cut out and his is imprisoned for life. While he does suffer, he still dreams of revenge and eventually escapes from prison with the hopes of attacking and beating Eric in the future. In every sense of the word, Corwin is a hero.

In this book, Corwin is a coward. He runs away from Amber to Avalon. While there, he seems to be afraid of one of his old henchmen, Ganelon, who is the leader of a group of men he finds there. Eventually revealing himself to Ganelon, they join force to fight a strange foe found in the forest. This story is a "2" in my eyes. It was predictable. It was boring. It added nothing to this series.

The second story, however, is much better. Corwin, trying to return to Amber, mets one of his brothers. He also plans again for the thrown and mets someone who may be his brother's granddaughter. He fights and runs, but seems to regain some of the character found in the first book.

I have read book 3, and the second part of this book leads nicely into it. It is only for this reason that I would recommend reading this book. Since the whole series, overall, is quite good, I just thought those of you who might get discouraged by the beginning of this book should take note: it does get better. Zelazany is a good writer, he just was a little off beat in the first story.

Guns of Avalon is a truly worthy sequel to the Nine Princes of Amber. What makes this book so fun is Zelazny tells his tale in a completely different tenor and tone then the first book. In the first book we had no idea what was going on. We were as lost as the main character is through out the book. In this novel the main Character, Corwin, is more aware of events and so we are allowed, as the reader, to be more aware of events.

I think it is a remarkable coincidence that I had just picked up "The Fabric of Reality" by David Deutsch just prior to reading this novel and it is remarkable how well Deutshe's theory of Multiverses fits into the Amber Chronicles. Don't get me wrong. I am not one of those people who wish to make their favorite fantasy into reality, but thinking scientifically while reading a classic fantasy yarn was very enjoyable.

A worthy sequel to Nine Princes of Amber. This, and most of Zelazny's novels, are usually out of print. It would be worthwhile to attempt to get a copy of this book either through Amazon's out print book search or your local used books store. Good luck.

As if it wasn't enough that many of the incidents in this volume set the stage for all the Amber books to follow; as if it wasn't enough that his use of language conjures images of majesty, grandeur and, yes, low animal cunning, I found Zelazny's use of the writerly technique foreshadowing (no pun intended) awe-inspiring. Everything builds from here - Corwin's memories of Moire and his brief affair with Lorraine lead up to his encounter with Dara and suggest the direction that will eventually lead. Corwin's adventures with the Black Circle forge his decisions about duty, kingship, and that which lies beyond the Black Road. While Nine Princes in Amber could be a stand-alone novel, this book is the linchpin which holds together all the Amber books to come.

The fisrt three quarters of the book is a historical insight to the State of California and what makes it so special and unique. It offers a look into the Reagan political era. The remainder of the book is a "what if". What if California didn't exist?

I first read this a few years after it came out, maybe 1971, and I have to say, while it was fascinating, it also made me a lifelong convert to the "I'm never moving to California" camp. If even half the outrageous, rich narrative is true (and in the first 3/4 of the book I have every reason to believe it is) it's reason enough to be leery of moving out there. Never even been there, but Gentry's book showed the stranger, darker side of cultists, Ronald Reagan, Los Angeles and Kalifornia Kulture. Haven't seen my copy of the book in probably 20 years now -- they should definitely consider reprinting it!

I read this book in the early 70's and loved it! I found it funny, tragic and obviously, memorable. I've thought about it often and am now trying to find a copy to re-read. I'd like to see if it is as good as my memory thinks it was and if it is as good, share it with some California "Johnny come lately" friends!

I must admit that my knowledge of M & A is very limited. That is why I found this book by Curt Schleier so valuable.
It is well written, easy to read & clearly guides you through the basics of understanding M & A & the giants that have dominated the field.
The lessons to be learned from these industry leaders are applicable to any business. Those presented in this book are a must for anyone striving for advancement to the top levels.

Masters of M&A is extremely insightful. Learning some of the general philosophy's of some of the worlds greatest businessmen has unbelievable beneficial lessons for anyone. I think this book is a must read. I only wish I could have read this book earlier as I could have applied some of the principles that I learned earlier to my own company.

Masters of M&A is extremely insightful. Learning some of the general philosophy's of some of the worlds greatest businessmen has unbelievable beneficial lessons for anyone. I think this book is a must read. I only wish I could have read this book earlier as I could have applied some of the principles that I learned earlier to my own company.

This book together with Curt Simmons other Windows 2000 book, "Creating Active Directory Infrastructure," were at my side as I successfully (even happily) installed Advanced Server and Active Directory in a small enterprise with multiple domains.

Read the Active Directory book first in order to plan the architecture because some fundamental changes to the elegant structures possible with Active Directory can only be done by starting over. (If the archtecture has been decided, you can get right into the Configuring book since it covers the essentials of Active Directory.)

After completing the planning, "Configuring" will be all you need for the initial installations. The book takes you step by step with about one screen shot on every other page. Server installation, hardware management, network configuration (including ADS, DNS, DHCP, WINS) security, profiles and policies are all covered.

There is only limited information on migration from UNIX or Novell. Those moving over, up, or down (depending on your viewpoint) from those systems, may find that the Simmons books are not what they want. (Simmons is an MCSE type guy.)

This is not a "dummies" book, but Simons command of the material and his clear and practiced style make the material no more difficult than it has to be.

There is no CD and system administrators will need to supplement the Simmons' books at a later date with one of the doorstopper reference works to cover all of the options in full detail.

The book was carefully edited and is nicely bound and printed.

I picked this book up to start learning Windows 2000 Server. I am not finished with the book yet, but so far I have learned a lot. The disk management chapter is really good. The book is focused on hands-on tasks and doesn't spend a lot of time wading you through ten years of technical history, which is a big plus to me. It you are already having to learn Windows 2000 (like me), I would recommend this one.

This book packs a lot of information on a wide range of configuration issues in Windows 2000 Server. I sat down at a W2K test server with this book and had learned several new things within an hour. Of couse, this book is based on RC1, so you'll run into a few minor differences with RC3, but I found few problems. As a matter of fact, I emailed the author about one of those questions, and he quickly responsed and redirected me to his updates page on the web, so it's nice to see a "real" author who sticks with his book. I have been pleased with this book so far, and would recommend it.

There is some good work that went into this book. You really feel like you understand about Steve Elkington's swing. The pictures are great. I've also never had back spasms before until giving Elkington's book a try. Beware the man who advises a violent turn of the abs toward the rib cage...ouch!

Steve Elkington is not only a marvelous golfer but he is an accomplished horticulturist and a great family man. His approach to the golf game is one of extreme intelligence. He can improve a golfer's game tremendously if they follow his advice on the fundamentals outlined in this book. I only wish I had read this book 40 years ago! Now he needs to write a book on "course management".

This is one of the best instruction books I have found. I found this book to be easy reading with excellent swing instructions.

This book is worth $10 or less and is too outdated...it was written in late 1997! The book concentrates on the NT 4.0 part of the MCSE course, and those exams are slated for retirement this year. The book is filled with fluff - It gives many locations for info found at Microsofts website. MS gives you this info for free if you just do some minor clicking around and reading on your own. Anyone who is considering MCSE should be very familiar with MS's website and this info already! If your not, you probably shouldn't be trying to get certified! You need more experience! This book does offer good info for developing study methods and habits. It offers one or two good strategies for taking the exam and does give some fair advice about the exam process from start to finish. That is it as far as valuable info goes! The majority of this book is spent telling you about the MCSE exam track, the free info at Microsoft.com, and other minro stuff. If this book was updated AND the price was lowered OR the writers drop the fluff and put in more heavy, detailed facts this would be a worthy purchase. I returned this book 7 days after I got it!

Found this book to be just the shot in the arm I needed! Gaining an MCSE is a daunting task and this book has helped a lot in learning how to "eat the (MCSE) elephant, one bite at a time"

You've packed a lot of information in a small space. I found it very useful and the price quite reasonable.

I have little UNIX or Solaris experience, so for me this book provided a spotty overview of the Solaris 8 O/S. It didn't provide an overall perspective of Solaris, tying all the pieces together to form a complete picture. It would have been great if the authors listed out the applications that come with Solaris (there are a truck load); it would have been even better if they detailed some of them. For those of us that don't have time to read through an author's opinions, this text leaves much to be desired.

Great Book for beginner's and a Excellent reference for Pro's.
The chapter to chapter sequence is just right for the topic(Solaris).

Hi

If you have basic Unix knowledge and If you want learn to how to manage a Solaris box, you have to buy it.

Good introduction for Solaris Administration.

Regards